Choir Fam Podcast
The Choir Fam Podcast is a venue for conversations about the current state of choral music. Hosts Dean Luethi and Matthew Myers seek to bring the worldwide choral community closer together through their discussions with a variety of guests who work with choir in its various forms. The goal of the podcast is to provide listeners with interesting tidbits of knowledge they could use in day-to-day choral rehearsals and to bring light to the ways that issues in the choral field are being observed and addressed.
- Update frequency
- every 9 days
- Average duration
- 46 minutes
- Episodes
- 142
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Ep. 38 - Publishing Considerations for the Aspiring Composer - Reginald Unterseher
"I was in this limbo place, and I took a church job and a community chorus job. [I thought,] 'I need a piece that does this thing, and I can't find one, so I might as well just write it.' I discovere…
Ep. 37 - Grace and Grit in the Choral Classroom - Coty Raven Morris
"As someone who moves at a million miles per hour, choir -- music -- is the one thing that does make time stop for me. I knew that I needed to be in the arts. I have to be a teacher, I have to be a c…
Ep. 36 - Conducting and Composition Commingled - Skip Stradtman
"As a realist, it's hard for me to be a dreamer, but I think when you're creative, you have to be. You have to find those ways to surround yourself with people who speak opportunity into your life. T…
Ep. 35 - Unlocking Creativity Through Collaboration - Jocelyn Hagen & Timothy Takach
"I'm an only child. I grew up in rural North Dakota in the country, and I spent a lot of time by myself and at the piano bench and in my own head. I hold my ideas very close to the chest. I don't let…
Ep. 34 - Breaking Boundaries in Choral Composition - Jocelyn Hagen & Timothy Takach
"A lot of our projects and our pieces seek to empower people and to bring stories to the surface that don't always get told. We have a literal stage to put these ideas forth, and we're able to ask ou…
Holiday Special with Hosts Dean Luethi and Matthew Myers
On the Choir Fam Holiday Special, Dean and Matt discuss making music during the busy holiday season and also look back on some favorite winter memories from their childhoods. We wish all our listener…
Ep. 33 - Situating Community at the Center of Artistry - Alysia Lee
"We’ve found other ways to make music by centering on the creative process and composition – collective composition in particular. Bringing young people together to meet across difference and to put …
Ep. 32 - Activating Artistry Through Administrative Excellence - Robyn Hilger
"The skill set of the executive director is actually the activation of knowledge in the organization rather than the specialization of the knowledge itself. I’m better served in clearing the road so …
Minisode 1 - Jessica Koenig, Kayla Mommsen, Ben Morgan, James Rodrigue
Choir Fam Minisode 1 includes Lightning Round answers from four of our Choir Fam listeners:
Jessica Koenig
Rockford, Illinois
Choir and piano lab teacher at Harlem Middle School
Kayla Mommsen
Pullman, Was…
Ep. 31 - Mitigating Burnout Through Time Management - Ben Hawkinson
"It's really easy for a teacher to work 80, 90, 100 hours a week. What does that do to a person? When I'm exhausted, I'm a less effective communicator. I am less prepared to deal with the emotional c…
Ep. 30 - Delving Deeper with Comprehensive Musicianship - Colleen McNickle
"When I was teaching high school, I really wanted to do some comprehensive and interdisciplinary lessons and didn't have the time to do that for all of my music. Now I have some time to do that resea…
Ep. 29 - Making Connections Through International Cultural Exchange - John Warren
"The International Conductors Exchange Program was a profound experience. What was unique was the chance to work with Cuban choirs, not just take an American choir and perform in a spectacular settin…
Ep. 28 - Engaging the Choir with Kinesthetic Learning - Reed Criddle
"If you can give students really clear directions about what they're doing with their bodies at all times, then their minds are much more likely to be focused. By the end of the rehearsal, there's al…
Ep. 27 - Meeting Your Students Where They Are - Jacob Funk
"One of my opportunities here at this school is to be able to do ‘harder’ music while still honoring our mission of being for the community. I have people who don’t read music. I have people who have…
Ep. 26 - Honoring Folk Tradition Through Innovative Composition - Nilo Alcala
"A lot of my choral works get inspiration from Philippine indigenous chants. We have 7000+ islands with different cultures and soundscapes, and that is itself is a very rich jump-off point for a new …
Minisode Intro - Share Your Story with the Choir Fam
We want to hear from you! We'd love all our listeners to answer our Season 1 lightning-round questions for us to share with our audience. We are looking forward to getting to know you better.
Email ch…
Season 1 Wrap-Up
Thank you for listening to our show this season!!
Here are the favorite choral pieces from our guests in the first season:
Even When He Is Silent, Kim André Arnesen
The Gift I Leave You, Kim André Arne…
Ep. 25 - The Intersection of Gifted Education and Choral Music - Heath Weber
"Smart kids are good thinkers. They don't like to make mistakes, but they're going to. So many of them are perfectionists, as are many musicians. The beauty is giving students a chance to explore, to…
Ep. 24 - Vocal Technique from the Stage to the Choir Loft - Benjamin Sieverding
"Being part of an ensemble taught me to look not just at my line but at all the music. The composer gives you so much information in the orchestra that you don't get from just the vocal line. That re…
Ep. 23 - Choral Concepts for Rehearsal and Performance - Edith Copley
"It's not about the notes. It's not about the rhythms. It's about connection. It's about getting a connection with each other, a connection to the conductor, and a connection to the music -- and disc…